Unsolicited Opinion

Commentary on current events and other topics that you did not ask for.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Local Stuff

This past week I took Amtrak to Seattle. The tracks from Olympia to Tacoma hug the Puget Sound shoreline and on a sunny late afternoon on a fall day, the view along the way was spectacular. Fall colors are well advanced these days. Set against the sound and not-too-distant islands, the color and light combine in a near electric sensuality. Spring may be the time of bursting creation but fall has its own passionate energy. Call it the maturity of time, with all the experience of summer behind it. Words do it no justice.

The tracks pass under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which is a truly grand structure. Something about suspension bridges brings out the romantic in me. Tacoma Narrows isn't as long as the better known suspension spans but it has every bit as much grace as its larger sisters.

Tacoma to Seattle isn't nearly as spectacular. The route moves inland and passes through the many small towns along the way. Still, it was pleasant enough to keep me peering out my window to see everything. Riding a train is pretty cool in that traffic must stop to give the train passage at road crossings. All those cars, just waiting for me to pass.